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Post by nsc39d8 on Aug 3, 2020 11:35:41 GMT -8
I am not set on the radiator intakes as well. I know everyone wants see-thru but the grill pattern is smaller, which I know is not avaialble in a photo etch.
I would settle for the translucent plastic as well to get the correct ribbing.
Otherwise I am quite impressed so far. I might not get a D9-40C in NS but I would wait for a 8900/9000 series D9-40CW in NS.
I have used a chain etch done by a friend of mine and I think the etched chain would be better as well. There used to be a 60 link per inch chain for ship builders
but I can't find it right now.
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Post by csxt8400 on Aug 3, 2020 12:05:57 GMT -8
One thing that jumps out to me is that the Athearn wheel bearings look to be sized better than the Scaletrains version. Athearn seems to have the correct gap around the face of the bearing in relation to the truck face.
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Post by gevohogger on Aug 3, 2020 12:30:46 GMT -8
I agree completely. The etched grilles with the perforated holes are awful!
How hard is it to make something that looks like the photo Bessemerkid posted?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 12:54:15 GMT -8
I agree completely. The etched grilles with the perforated holes are awful!
How hard is it to make something that looks like the photo Bessemerkid posted?
Not that hard. It has already been done.   This is the Intermountain Tier 4 Gevo. The whole reason I ditched all of my ScaleTrains locomotives in favor of the Intermountain model is due to this section right here. The radiator grills are significantly finer and give a more realistic appearance. Although far too big the metal in the real world would be non-existant if shrunk down 87 times. Add the spring holders on the brake chain and the continuous brake chain and you have a better executed model in terms of completeness of detail accuracy. |
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Post by cemr5396 on Aug 3, 2020 13:09:26 GMT -8
IMO, Athearn's screens are much nicer than ScaleTrains'. But still a little bit coarse. I'm curious what they'll look like with paint on them, as that should close them up a bit I'm thinking.
But those Intermountain ones look amazing. I hadn't seen a close up of them like that before. I've been thinking about getting an IMRC ET44AC for a while, that just adds fuel to the fire.
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Post by railmodeltroy14 on Aug 3, 2020 13:21:01 GMT -8
I agree completely. The etched grilles with the perforated holes are awful!
How hard is it to make something that looks like the photo Bessemerkid posted?
Not that hard. It has already been done. This is the Intermountain Tier 4 Gevo. The whole reason I ditched all of my ScaleTrains locomotives in favor of the Intermountain model is due to this section right here. The radiator grills are significantly finer and give a more realistic appearance. Although far too big the metal in the real world would be non-existant if shrunk down 87 times. Add the spring holders on the brake chain and the continuous brake chain and you have a better executed model in terms of completeness of detail accuracy. I have both the Intermountain and Scale Trains ET44AH locomotives and both are excellent models. If Athearn executes the Dash 9 units in the way they did the SD 90 MAC H2 locomotives, they will be hard to beat. |
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Post by gevohogger on Aug 3, 2020 13:23:55 GMT -8
I agree completely. The etched grilles with the perforated holes are awful!
How hard is it to make something that looks like the photo Bessemerkid posted?
Not that hard. It has already been done. This is the Intermountain Tier 4 Gevo. It is hard to tell: Does the Intermountain have the corrugations? From this angle, it is hard to tell but they look flat. |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 13:26:49 GMT -8
Not that hard. It has already been done. This is the Intermountain Tier 4 Gevo. It is hard to tell: Does the Intermountain have the corrugations? From this angle, it is hard to tell but they look flat. Sorry, I have to make this image huge so you can see the corrugations because my phone doesnt do macro images. www.flickr.com/photos/48288130@N02/50186140671/sizes/4k/ |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2020 13:32:39 GMT -8
For complete comparison. If I were to rank them SXT - 3rd, ATH - 2nd, IMRC - 1st. ScaleTrains Dash 9:  Athearn Dash 9:  Intermountain Tier 4 Gevo:  |
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Post by ADK on Aug 3, 2020 14:23:18 GMT -8
The intermountain model has the right look out of the three. The material on the Athearn and Scaletrains looks very close if not the same. It detracts from an otherwise very well done model IMO.
Janek, is it possible to change the screen material or is it too late in the process?
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Post by thebessemerkid on Aug 3, 2020 14:57:03 GMT -8
For complete comparison. If I were to rank them SXT - 3rd, ATH - 2nd, IMRC - 1st. ScaleTrains Dash 9: Athearn Dash 9: Intermountain Tier 4 Gevo: May as well toss everything in: MTH  Ancient Kato .JPG) More recent Kato  Not that I would imply the latter are in the same league. Esoecially when it comes to road-specific details. Any other dash 9's out there to add? |
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Post by es80ac on Aug 3, 2020 19:57:51 GMT -8
Intermountain GE trucks are no where as accurate or prototypical as Athearn Genesis or Scaletrains. Athearn Genesis is probably the most accurate out of the 3, just look at the bell shaped axle journal, Athearn most closely resemble the real thing.
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Post by thebessemerkid on Aug 3, 2020 20:36:58 GMT -8
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Post by fr8kar on Aug 3, 2020 22:28:35 GMT -8
I think ScaleTrains gets the brake line best out of all of them. Other than that, Athearn's truck looks the best to me.
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Post by Donnell Wells on Aug 4, 2020 9:54:16 GMT -8
I think ScaleTrains gets the brake line best out of all of them. Other than that, Athearn's truck looks the best to me.
Donnell |
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Post by mdvle on Aug 4, 2020 12:59:53 GMT -8
Just commented on the Athearn Live, they are going to go back to the engineering people to see about improving the screens/grills.
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Post by Donnell Wells on Aug 4, 2020 13:43:44 GMT -8
Just commented on the Athearn Live, they are going to go back to the engineering people to see about improving the screens/grills.
Donnell |
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Post by cemr5396 on Aug 4, 2020 14:40:08 GMT -8
I was excited to hear that CN and BC Rail teardrop cabs are coming. Hopefully they use that cab and give us a CN teardrop cab ES44DC as well. If they don't want to copy Intermountain they can do numbers from CN's second order (2255-2289) which didn't have the marker lights in the nose. I'd be happy either way.
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Post by espeenut on Aug 7, 2020 15:45:39 GMT -8
...interesting that there is a shot of the more recent release of the Kato unit, I think, when weathered, their screens look just fine. I have three of the Kato KOBO units in UP colors and one Espee, they're used when we have club events and at shows, I think they're more than acceptable for a rendition of the early C44-9W's and they're robust enough to be handled at shows where I don't have to worry about fragile parts collecting along the track. The screens on the ST and Athearn keep me from wanting these models, it really is quite noticeable.
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Post by thunderhawk on Aug 7, 2020 17:01:36 GMT -8
Those GE screens are hard to see through when standing right on the walkway. Molded would look better than an actual screen but then some people seem to have a fetish for etched screens, no matter if they look right. Reminds me of a model that had the intakes on an EMD see through like a tunnel motor. Hardly correct.
A translucent black insert lightly oversprayed, from an angle, with the body color would likely work fairly well. Similar to what fr8kar did on his NS unit.
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Post by thebessemerkid on Aug 7, 2020 19:42:44 GMT -8
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Post by bncascadegreen on Aug 8, 2020 1:20:49 GMT -8
The CNW lightning bolt striping almost blends with the CNW/yellow....obviously it’s been a long time since 1994 since I seen one brand new but after looking at photos of new ones the stripe is quite pernounced off the CNW yellow used on the Dash 9.
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Post by mlwlover on Aug 8, 2020 14:55:08 GMT -8
the only problem with the intermountain units is the trucks and they will never produce anymore. the athearn genesis and scale trains trucks are correct and capture the bulkiness of the prototype. i put the genesis trucks on my intermountain es44dc locos and it made a world of difference. it was a lot of work milling the underframes but well worth it. i wished scale trains would sell their truck seperately, but either one is good.
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Post by Artur on Aug 8, 2020 16:17:59 GMT -8
the only problem with the intermountain units is the trucks and they will never produce anymore. the athearn genesis and scale trains trucks are correct and capture the bulkiness of the prototype. i put the genesis trucks on my intermountain es44dc locos and it made a world of difference. it was a lot of work milling the underframes but well worth it. i wished scale trains would sell their truck seperately, but either one is good. I did the same except I swapped out the whole frame. The intermountain shell looks great and it fits the Genesis frame without milling. |
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Post by mlwlover on Aug 9, 2020 6:00:58 GMT -8
how did you get an underframe?
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Post by Artur on Aug 9, 2020 7:15:57 GMT -8
how did you get an underframe? I needed a donor for a couple projects, took a while but I found a badly weathered unit on ebay for cheep. all that's left is the log hood. |
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Post by godzilla on Aug 10, 2020 21:31:20 GMT -8
I'm in for some dash 9's. A few UP's for now but I'll be looking for the red and silver of the SF in the future. Hopefully that Athearn will do allot better on the paint of the SF than ST did on the red and silver. I
Dave
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Post by flanker on Aug 13, 2020 3:41:20 GMT -8
I am in for Athearn, Nothing wrong with Scaletrains models, it is just they are not available on ModeltrainStuff, where I do my most of purchase.
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Post by riogrande on Aug 13, 2020 4:28:23 GMT -8
Nothing wrong with Scaletrains models, it is just they are not available on ModeltrainStuff, where I do my most of purchase. I also do alot of purchasing from modeltrainstuff where ever possible, especially because they have the rewards program which saves me money. However, ScaleTrains does offer free shipping on order of $99 or more, which is pretty good. I'm not going to void buying ScaleTrails models I need just because they don't sell thru ModelTrainstuff anymore. (If I recall, modeltrainstuff and ScaleTrains disgreed over the return policies so parted ways. It may be modeltrainstuff was too liberal with their returns, which is good for the customer probably but may have been considered too generous by ST. Not sure. |
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Post by tony on Aug 17, 2020 7:40:46 GMT -8
What software is Athearn using to create their CAD models? The eDrawings is a Dassault Systèmes product - so are they using Solidworks or Catia ? Catia was made famous when Boeing used it to create the first 777.
When I surveyed model train mfg in China I found Pro-E as the common software being used.
I'm curious if they are using product x and the chinese factory people are using product y and conversion is required in between.
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